Coupling release-rigging.



I. H. Ml-LUKEN.

COUPLING RELEASE RIGGING.

APPLICATION FILED MAYI. 1911.

1 ,23 6, 86 1 Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

m, flaw .l. H. MILLIKEN.

COUPLING RELEASE RIGGING.

. APPLICATION HLED MAYI. 19x1.

1,236,861. Patented Aug. 14,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC H. MILLIKEN, OF ASPINWALL, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE McCON WAY &

TORLEY COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14, 1917.

Application filed May 1, 1917. Serial No. 165,777.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ISAAC H. MILLIKEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aspinwall, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coupling Release-Rigging; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the construction of release rigging mechanism for unlocking car couplers, and its primary object is to afford compact and eflicient means for unlocking the coupler from below in cases where the carrier irons of the cars or the appurtenances attached to the carrier irons extend downwardly beyond what is now usual (l-l A further object of the invention is to so form and combine the parts of the release rigging that, when employed in conjunction with cars having coupler carrier irons of'unusual depth, it may serve as a means for preventing accidental unlocking of the knuckles locking mechanism without requiring the coupler locking means to be extended downward to an inconvenient length and while yet enabling the uncoupling levers, in the lateral and longitudinal movements of the coupler, to clear steam and air hose, safety chain anchorages, and such other devices as are usually found at the ends of cars in proximity to the coupler.

Generally stated, these objects are effected by combining, with a coupler head and its knuckle and locking means, a vertically movable pivoted member for engaging and causing an unlocking operation of the look ing means, and means for actuating the pivoted member, both said pivoted member and its actuating means being movable with the coupler, and the actuating means being supported independently of said pivoted member.

In the drawings illustrating the best form in which I contemplate applying the principle of my invention, the scope whereof is pointed out in the claims,

Figure l is a front elevation of a coupler and a release rigging embodying my invention, aportion of the end of the railway car being also illustrated.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the coupler and release rigging shown in Fig. 1, portions of the uncoupling levers and of the coupler stem being omitted, and parts of the car being in vertical section.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the coupler and release rigging, portions of the uncoupling levers and of the stem of the coupler being omitted.

Fig. 4 is a detail rear elevation of the parts of the release rigging shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view on the line 5-5, Fig. 2.

In the form of coupler shown in the drawings, the coupler head 1 and coupler stem 2 are pivotally connected by means of a vertically extending pivot pin 3, since the invention is especially suited for a coupler of that type, but it is to be understood that my invention may be advantageously employed with car couplers in which the head and stem are not movably connected.

The coupler head has the knuckle 4: pivotally mounted thereon, as, for example, by means of a knuckle pin 5, and the means for locking the knuckle in closed or coupled position preferably consists of a vertically movable lock 6 which projects downwardly through the lower wall of the coupler head 1. The coupler is supported at its forward end by a carrier iron 7 upon which the stem 2 of the coupler rests in the usual manner.

The locking means 6 is engaged and actuated by a vertically movable pivoted arm or lifter 8 which is preferably mounted beneath the coupler head and part-akes of the movements thereof when in service. The lower end of the lock 6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is preferably provided with a slot or opening into which the forward end of the pivoted lifter 8 extends, the lower end of said slot being closed to form a rest for the outer end of the member 8 when the parts are in normal or locked positions. In order that the member 8 may operate to prevent accidental unlocking of the coupler it is preferably provided near its forward end with a face or shoulder 9 which, when the parts are in locked position, is adapted to engage the corresponding face or shoulder 10 at the lower end of lock 6. The locking faces 9 and 10 being below the pivotal axis of the member 8 and overlapping each other at a suitable angle make it necessary before the lock 6 can execute an unlocking movement to lift the arm 8 sufiiciently to disen gage the faces 9 and 10 and permit them to slide freely past each other without bind-' ing, the principle of operation of the device in its performance of this function of preventing accidental unlocking of the coupler being similar to that explained in the VVilliam Kelso Patent, No. 1,148,023, of July 27, 1915.

Thepivot for the lock actuating member 8 is preferably constituted by two horizontally extending pintles l1 projecting outwardly from opposite sides of the member 8 near the rear end thereof. These trun nions or pintles are seated in bearings 12 which are preferably open at the top and are formed in a bracket or member 13 which preferably is rigidly secured to the coupler head 1 by means of the pivot pin 3 that connects said head to the coupler stem 2. Such a mode of attaching the bracket or bearing casting 13 to the coupler, if the two be made separate, is described in my Patent No. 1,184,116, of May 23, 1916.

To the rear of its pivots or pintles 11 the lock actuating member 8 is formed with a pocket or recess 14- which is open on opposite sides and receives the upwardly extending inner ends 15 of the rotatable uncoupling levers or rods 16 that respectively extend in opposite directions toward the sides of the car. As will be seen from Fig. 2, the recess 11 is preferably of suflicient extent longitudinally of the coupler to permit either of the uncoupling levers 16 to be rotated independently of the other in effect ing the lock actuating movement of the member 8 upon its trunnions 11.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the uncoupling rods 16 engage the member 8 to the rear of and below the trunnions 11. This permits the uncoupling levers 16 to be suitably located to clear other devices on the car and at the same time, without undue downward extension of the lock 6, permits the lock actuating member 8 to extend at a proper angle to insure the efiicient performance of its function of locking the coupler lock 6 against accidental unlocking.

The uncoupling levers 16 are supported at their inner ends by the supporting bracket or bearing member 13, the latter being provided with elongated slots 17 which receive the respective uncoupling levers and are of suitable length and form to permit these levers to swing the lock actuating member 8 upwardly to the full extent that may be necessary to unlock the coupler or to operate the knuckle opener when the coupler is provided with knuckle opening means. By relieving the member 8 of the weight of the uncoupling levers 16 it is possible to have it serve as a lock-to-the-lock notwithstanding the location of its pivotal point in advance of its point of engagement with the levers 16. Should the weight of the uncoupling rods 16 be borne by the lock actuating member 8 there would be a tend ency for the member 8 to lift sufliciently to destroy its ability to function as a lock to-the-lock, as will be readily understood.

The uncoupling rods 16- by extending through the slots 17 of the bearing casting 13 and into the recess or pocket 14 in the rear end of the member 8 retain said member S in assembled relation with the bracket or bearing member 13 notwithstanding that the bearings 12 for the pintles or trunnions are open at the top.

Upon rotating either of the uncoupling levers 16 in the proper direction its bent inner end 15 presses against the pivoted lock actuating member 8 and swings it upwardly upon its trunnions 11. This causes the coupler lock 6 to execute a corresponding unlocking movement.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and knuckle locking means, of mechanism for moving said locking means to unlocked position, said mechanism involving a pivoted member adapted to actuate said locking means and also to prevent accidental unlocking thereof, a rotatable uncoupling lever for actuating said pivoted member, and means for relieving said pivoted member from the weight of said uncoupling lever, the point of engagement of said pivoted lock actuating member with said uncoupling lever and the point of engagement of said lock actuating member with said lock being when the parts are in locked position on opposite sides of the vertical plane passing through the pivotal axis of the said pivoted member.

2. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and knuckle locking means, of mechanism for moving said locking means to unlocked position, said mechanism involving a pivoted member adapted to engage and prevent accidental unlocking of said knuckle locking means, a bearing member upon which said last named member is pivoted, and means for actuating said pivoted member, said last named means being supported adjacent to said pivoted member by said bearing member.

3. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and knuckle locking means, of mechanism for moving said locking means to unlocked position, said mechanism involving a bracket movable with said couple-r head, a member pivotally mounted on said bracket and adapted to actuate said locking means and to prevent an accidental unlocking movement of said locking means, and a rotatable uncoupling lever supported by said bracket and adapted to actuate said pivoted member.

4. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and a vertically movable lock for said knuckle, of means for moving said lock to unlocked position, said means involving a pivoted member adapted to move said lock to unlocked position and also adapted to prevent accidental unlocking thereof, a member forming a pivotal bearing for said pivoted member, and means for actuating said pivoted member, said pivotal point of said pivoted member being above the point of engagement of said pivoted member with said lock and forward of its point of engagement with the said means for actuating said pivoted member.

5. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and knuckle locking means, of mechanism for moving said locking means to unlocked position, said mechanism involving an upwardly movable member eX- tending beneath said head and movable therewith and engaging said locking means and adapted to prevent accidental unlocking of said locking means, means for actu ating said upwardly movable member, and means movable with the coupler head for supporting said actuating means independently of said upwardly movable member.

6. In a device of the character indicated, the combination with a coupler head, its knuckle and a vertically movable lock for said knuckle, of means for moving said lock to unlocked position, said means involving a pivoted member extending beneath said coupler head, a bracket forming a pivotal bearing for said pivoted member, and a rotatable uncoupling lever for actuating said pivoted member, said bracket engaging and supporting said uncoupling lever and being formed with a slot through which said uncoupling lever extends, and said slot permitting said uncoupling lever to move transversely of its direction of length.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ISAAC H. MILLIKEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

